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S36 E37 – Gardening Australia 🌱🌸

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00:01Hey!
00:02Hi!
00:07Ooh!
00:13Hey!
00:15Hey, buddy.
00:18Hey!
00:19Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:32I'm here at the stunning Australian garden
00:35at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne.
00:38It's the perfect showcase
00:40for some of the best Australian native plants
00:43and you can look around and see
00:45how you could use these plants in your garden.
00:49It's one of my favourite places to visit for that very reason.
00:53And now, it might be a little bit windy here today,
00:56but it isn't going to affect
00:58the awesome line-up of stories we've got coming your way.
01:02Check this out.
01:06There's something special about nurturing a plant from seed,
01:09and this one's an absolute beauty.
01:11I'm getting some tips on how to grow the Sturt Desert Pea.
01:15Want to know the secret to growing heaps of fruit and veg?
01:18I'll show you how to supercharge your soil.
01:21I'm exploring a biodiversity project
01:24here at the Melbourne Cemetery,
01:26which is bringing the land back from the dead.
01:28We looked at what plants are appropriate for this site,
01:31regenerating the grassland environment
01:33that would have been here previously.
01:35And Millie's got a bit of a drip going.
01:37Today, I want to put in a drip system
01:39to help me water my garden more efficiently
01:42and more effectively.
01:50If there's a place in the world that's close to my heart,
01:53it's the Mediterranean.
01:55The sun, the lifestyle, the people, the food.
01:59And don't get me started on the plants.
02:02Josh has found someone in Fremantle who shares my feelings,
02:07so much so that she's brought a slice of the Mediterranean
02:11into her own backyard.
02:13We live in a Mediterranean climate,
02:20characterised by long, hot, dry summers
02:25and cool, wet, mild winters,
02:28being hallmarks of countries from the Mediterranean region.
02:32But what does that mean for gardeners?
02:34Hi, Josh.
02:37How are you?
02:38Good.
02:39Welcome to the garden of the house.
02:40I'm visiting the north Fremantle garden of Margot Tobin to find out.
02:43Deliberately...
02:44In 2009, after buying a tired 1905 workers' cottage,
02:49Margot and her husband Guy set about designing a renovation
02:53and an extension along with a new garden.
02:56Margot is a Mediterranean garden aficionado,
03:04who also happens to be the head of the Western Australian chapter
03:08of the Mediterranean Garden Society,
03:11an international garden club headquartered in Greece.
03:14First of all, Margot, what a journey yours must have been
03:18to get to a point where you're heading up
03:21the WA Mediterranean Garden Society.
03:24Just how far afield have you travelled
03:27pursuing this love of Mediterranean gardens?
03:29So, France, Italy, Spain, Mallorca.
03:34We've been to lots of gardens there.
03:36Been to Greece several times, including Corfu,
03:39which has a beautiful climate.
03:41So I have seen a lot of Mediterranean gardens,
03:43even California.
03:44Mediterranean climate in California.
03:46So I've been to lots of Mediterranean gardens there.
03:48And how have these travels informed your understanding
03:52of what a Mediterranean garden is?
03:53And how would you define it?
03:55I think from a design perspective,
03:57a Mediterranean garden's got to have three things.
03:59It's got to have water.
04:00Because it dates back to the Islamic time
04:02where the water was sent down a rill or water channel
04:06from the mountains to irrigate people's gardens
04:08and provide water for their homes.
04:10And I particularly like this area where the rill is.
04:12I'll often go and sit down there with my cup of coffee in the morning
04:15and just chill there and look at the water and look at the fish.
04:19It's also got to have shade,
04:21because a Mediterranean climate can get very hot.
04:24And the whole Mediterranean lifestyle means that you've also got to have
04:27somewhere outdoors to eat,
04:29because people do eat outdoors a lot in the Mediterranean.
04:31So those three design things.
04:33And then, of course, from the planting perspective,
04:35you've got to have plants that will grow in a Mediterranean climate.
04:39I've used a mixture of Mediterranean plants plus Australian native plants,
04:44but there's very little irrigation out here.
04:46And it survives some pretty hot summers in Fremantle.
04:49I mean, we've been getting 40 degrees in October sometimes,
04:52and that's pretty hot.
04:54And I've also put in quite a bit of shade from the olive trees,
04:57so they're going to give us a nice delicate shade over the plants.
05:00Now, this old fig tree has caught my eye.
05:03Can we have a closer look?
05:04Oh, absolutely.
05:06I see that you keep it pruned in a traditional way.
05:10That's very Mediterranean, and I learnt it from my travels.
05:13They do keep it down lower in the Mediterranean
05:16because it makes it a lot easier to pick your figs.
05:18So nobody wants to be getting up ladders to get figs.
05:21You can just walk out and pick them straight off the tree.
05:24Do you get plenty of fruit off this?
05:25I've been getting about 400 a year every summer.
05:28It's prolific, given that it's so old.
05:30It's probably close to 100 years old, but it is on its last legs.
05:34Hence my husband training up the new fig,
05:38and that has produced figs as well.
05:40But we're sort of thinking of succession.
05:42What a great idea. I love that.
05:44Mmm.
05:46So this is only part of the garden.
05:48What else is there to see?
05:50Well, the garden's called Riot and Restraint,
05:52and out the back here a lot more restraint was shown,
05:56and I've been very limited in my planting,
05:59so a lot of species are repeated,
06:01and very little colour out here.
06:03The wastringia, they've got quite a bit of that,
06:06and the plectrianthus at the back.
06:08Whereas the other garden is the riot part of it,
06:10and that's a riot of overplanting.
06:16Wow, this is a very different feel.
06:19Yes, this is probably my favourite part of the garden, Josh.
06:23This is where I get to indulge my love of plants.
06:26There's always room for one more plant.
06:28But every plant's got its space.
06:30It'll come to the fore at different times of the year,
06:33so the euphorbia's flowering now,
06:35and that'll die right back in summer,
06:37and other things will come up.
06:39So I've got pelargoniums and so on down there,
06:41and they'll come up in summer.
06:43So seasonality is a big thing,
06:46even in gardens where the focus is on foliage.
06:49Yes, well, it's my garden,
06:51so it has to look good 365 days of the year,
06:54and most of that's done with foliage.
06:56I don't have a lot of flowers here,
06:58but I just like the foliage,
06:59and of course I get to indulge a few favourites
07:01like my favourite tree.
07:03Yeah, the Cassonia.
07:04Now, that is not common.
07:06No, it isn't.
07:07I've only seen three in Australia.
07:09So that's the Cassonia paniculata,
07:11the mountain cabbage tree.
07:13It's from southern Africa,
07:14but I got it a long time ago,
07:16and had it in a pot,
07:17and I've got it for the bark.
07:19I just love that corky-type bark.
07:21It's just gorgeous,
07:22and it doesn't get any water.
07:24Probably steals it from other parts of the garden,
07:26but it's doing really well there.
07:28It's been in the ground about 10 years,
07:29and I like that silvery foliage too.
07:32And great pairing with the Kalanchoe.
07:34Yes, that's the Kalanchoe Beherensis.
07:37So I've got a couple of those,
07:38but I quite like that.
07:39It's just so easy to grow here.
07:41It's very nice.
07:42I've got that furry leaf,
07:44which is pretty common for Mediterranean plants
07:46to help with moisture retention,
07:48and I've got the Euphorbia lambii in that corner,
07:51which I really like.
07:52Now, does this garden take much work
07:54to keep it looking this good?
07:56It gets a bit of water in spring
07:58if we haven't had enough rain.
08:00I might water in autumn
08:01if the rains haven't started,
08:03but like most Mediterranean plants,
08:05a lot of these are very quiet in summer.
08:07They almost go dormant.
08:09Well, some of them are dormant,
08:10but you don't really want to be watering them.
08:12It's not a huge amount of work.
08:14I'd hardly get any weeds,
08:15but it's because there's no room for them.
08:21The idea of a Mediterranean garden evokes a vision
08:24of people enjoying the outdoor spaces,
08:27socialising, entertaining.
08:29Has this garden delivered on that promise for you?
08:32Oh, I think it has.
08:34We both love being out here in the garden,
08:36but we also get lots of visitors,
08:38family, friends, entertaining out the back,
08:40and all of the entertaining is done in the garden.
08:42You know, it's not in the house,
08:44it's out here in the garden,
08:45because that's where people want to sit.
08:47And it's really very special to us.
08:57How do bugs survive in extreme weather?
08:59Well, over winter, many hibernate,
09:02which is why you don't see as much activity in your garden.
09:05Moths and butterflies can pupate in their own little sleeping bags.
09:09Borers stay in their borer holes in trees,
09:12and many other insects find safer places.
09:15As the weather improves,
09:17you'll notice a lot more activity
09:19as the insects warm up their cold blood and start to breed.
09:23In the heat of summer,
09:25many thrive, like aphids and mosquitoes,
09:27while others seek out shade and shelter,
09:30which is why it's so important
09:32to have plenty of variety in vegetation
09:34and water spots that are set up for bugs
09:37to get in and out of safely.
09:39Why is some of the new growth in my plum tree
09:41curling up?
09:43It might be that you have aphids in there,
09:45which love to get into the new leaves
09:47and eat them up for themselves.
09:49To stop this from happening,
09:50there are a few things you can do.
09:52Firstly, because this isn't a major infestation,
09:55I'm just going to come around
09:56and snip off any of the infested growth
09:58and stick it into a bucket of water or soap in there
10:01to drown the little fellas.
10:02Secondly, I'm going to come back in late winter
10:05before the buds swell
10:06and spray the whole tree
10:08with diluted horticultural oil,
10:10which you can make yourself at home
10:11with a bit of veggie oil and dishwashing liquid.
10:14Finally, I'm going to fill my gardens
10:16with even more flowers
10:18that attract beneficial predators
10:19like little wasps, ladybugs and lacewings.
10:23What is deep watering?
10:26Watering is a technique to refresh plants.
10:29That's obvious.
10:30But by watering deeply,
10:32you can improve the performance of your plants.
10:34You see, plant roots are designed to look out for moisture.
10:39So a light watering will bring roots up to the surface
10:43where the soil is hotter and drier
10:45and plants can suffer heat damage because of that.
10:48But deep watering is done less frequently
10:51and it trains the roots to grow deeply down into the soil.
10:55Now, if you're watering a tree,
10:57that gives you deeper anchoring roots
11:00which are more storm resistant.
11:02So you see, deep watering is far more effective
11:05and your plants are more sturdy.
11:20If you want to know the secret
11:21to growing heaps of veggies in your patch,
11:23like the team here at Paddington Community Garden,
11:26then this one's for you.
11:28We all know that fruit and veg are full of nutrients,
11:33which are good for us, of course,
11:35but they're essential for a plant's growth.
11:38All these minerals come from somewhere
11:41and that somewhere is the soil.
11:44Plants draw nutrients from the soil up through their roots.
11:48And as the seasons change and you harvest your crops,
11:52the soil can become depleted.
11:54So if you want to make sure there's nutrients available
11:57for your next round of planting,
11:59it's time to supercharge your soil.
12:02The process of making synthetic fertilisers
12:06takes a lot of energy
12:08and can have a big environmental impact.
12:11So today I'm going to show you some soil additives
12:14that are made from organic materials instead.
12:17The simplest and cheapest way to naturally supercharge your soil
12:26is to make your own compost
12:28with your food scraps and garden clippings.
12:31It's ready when it gets this beautiful crumbly texture
12:36and a nice earthy aroma to it.
12:40Compost is packed full of organisms
12:42that give your soil a massive boost.
12:45It not only adds good bacteria and microbes to your soil,
12:49it also provides a home and food for them.
12:52As all those microscopic little organisms get to work
12:56breaking down organic matter,
12:58they're also making nutrients more available for plants to take up.
13:02This compost has been built over about six months
13:08by adding a ratio of around 40% green materials to 60% brown materials.
13:16Now, green materials are things like your food scraps or garden clippings.
13:22They're full of nitrogen.
13:24Brown materials are things like cardboard, leaves and sawdust.
13:30They're full of carbon.
13:33Too much green material and it'll become wet and stinky.
13:38Too much brown and it'll become dry and won't break down.
13:43If you're struggling to find enough brown material in your garden,
13:47try putting a container of sawdust next to your compost bin
13:52and adding a scoop every time you add some green.
13:55Make sure you've got at least two compost bins
13:59so you can keep adding to one,
14:01while the other can be left to rest and break down.
14:04Whenever you're starting a fresh compost pile,
14:07begin by adding a shovel full of finished compost.
14:11It's a super boost of microbes and worm eggs
14:14to get your new pile going.
14:17Worm castings is the somewhat euphemistic word for worm poo.
14:23So what happens in a worm farm like this is you put your food scraps in,
14:28the worms eat it and when it passes through them,
14:31they leave behind this stuff.
14:33Worm castings.
14:35Now, if you don't have space for a worm farm
14:39or you might not even have space for a compost bin,
14:42you can always buy worm castings and compost
14:45from your local nursery or garden centre.
14:48Worm castings and compost both improve the soil structure
14:53and help with water retention.
14:55Worm castings are full of an incredibly diverse mix
14:58of microbes and good bacteria,
15:01as well as mycorrhizal fungi.
15:04The tiny threads can extend the reach of plant roots
15:07and make it easier for them to take up water and nutrients.
15:10Worm castings are also a great source of nitrogen,
15:14phosphorus and potassium,
15:16all things your plants need.
15:18Worm castings are also a great source of nitrogen.
15:21The plant is a natural fertilizer made from composted chicken poo.
15:27Now, if you've got chickens at home, you can compost their poo yourself.
15:32If not, it's available in ready to use bags.
15:35The key is that the pellets break down slowly, releasing the nutrients gradually.
15:43Pelletised chicken manure also improves soil structure,
15:47but the main reason to add it is because it's high in nitrogen,
15:50phosphorus and potassium.
15:52Leafy greens and veggies need all these things.
15:55So this is a really important addition.
15:59If you can stomach it, blood and bone is a classic organic fertilizer.
16:04The blood component contains slow-release nitrogen
16:08and the bone is full of calcium and phosphorus.
16:12Nitrogen supports leafy growth
16:14and the phosphorus will help the growth of strong roots
16:18and healthy flowers and fruit.
16:20I've got a couple of buckets of compost
16:23and a decent handful of each of the others.
16:27I've given them a good mix
16:29and now they're ready to add to this raised garden bed.
16:33This quantity will do about one square metre of soil
16:37and to protect it, always add some mulch
16:40to help keep the soil moist and slow down weeds.
16:44And did you know that snow peas are also soil superheroes?
16:49Their roots make the soil crumbly and loose for other crops to follow,
16:54especially leafy greens.
16:56Snow peas are legumes and they add atmospheric nitrogen to the soil
17:02through a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia bacteria on their roots.
17:07When their roots are left in the soil,
17:09they decompose and release the nitrogen.
17:12Nature has plenty of soil superchargers raring to go.
17:17Your veggies are as hungry for nutrients as you are.
17:21So in between crops, be sure to feed your soil with all the good stuff.
17:26What do you look for when you come to any garden show?
17:36What's the first thing you head for?
17:39Oh, for me, it's the plants.
17:41Yeah.
17:42Like there's so much variety.
17:43We've got different growers in different states.
17:45And so everyone, I mean, different climates.
17:47So just to see what is available and then what I can go home with really.
17:52How big's the bag?
17:53Empty bag.
17:54I always love that.
17:55Like, it's right.
17:56Like if you go straight to the plants in any place,
17:59you've been all around the world, Jane.
18:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:01You can get to know that place, you know, what the climate's like,
18:03you know, what the culture might be like.
18:05Are they growing lots of food?
18:06It's such a window into people's world.
18:08Yeah.
18:09And it's good to see what's flavour of the month, if you like.
18:12You know, here there's lots of native plants which are really taking off.
18:16You know, it's great.
18:17And what do you love to see?
18:18I think a little bit like Jane, I love to be amongst lots of people
18:22who are excited about gardening.
18:24And I love that this gives an opportunity for people who are normally
18:27squirrelling away in their backyard down by the compost by themselves
18:31to meet other gardeners.
18:33And they might stand and look at a show garden and stand next to a stranger
18:37and have a conversation about what it is that they really love about it.
18:40And I just think it's such a great opportunity for that.
18:43I mean, we're really with our people.
18:45That's exactly right.
18:46Some plants seem destined to be just out of reach for the home gardener.
18:58A good example is the sturt desert pea.
19:01Stunning, iconic flowers that leap out and say this is Australia.
19:08Tammy's tracked down an expert with all the insider tips you'll ever need.
19:16The sturt desert pea, with its unusual flowers, attracts everyone from florists to gardeners.
19:28But they can be notoriously difficult to grow, especially in more humid and temperate climates.
19:34Hey Jonathan!
19:35How are you going, Tammy? Good to meet you.
19:37Love to meet you.
19:38I'm getting top tips from Jonathan Lidbetter at a native flower farm on New South Wales' central coast.
19:44He has years of experience growing desert peas for the Sydney market.
19:49We sell whole stems and whole plants.
19:52And sometimes these flowers can be used in big display events like in the Opera House or in movie sets or things like that.
20:01They naturally occur in the dry arid centre of Australia, pretty well in all Australian states except Victoria, where annual rainfall varies between about 250 millimetres to 500 millimetres a year.
20:15Despite them growing across some of the harshest climates in Australia, they actually prefer that to growing in our very high humidity here on the east coast.
20:24The high humidity means that they're prone to infection with foliage diseases such as botrytis and that's one of our biggest challenges growing it here.
20:34We have chosen now to purely grow it as a summer crop because in these open structures we can't grow it 12 months of the year without too many significant problems.
20:44Right. So really it's about understanding the climate that you're going to try grow these in.
20:49Yeah, to give yourself the best chance. And you're treating it as an annual.
20:53Sturt Desert Pea seed can be sourced from nurseries or suppliers online.
20:58Jonathan uses seed collected from their own seed pods.
21:01Seed is incredibly variable in how viable it is when you seem to get it.
21:06So if we have our own seed, we actually know what's going on.
21:09So does anything special need to happen to the seeds before we sow them?
21:13Well, Sturt Desert Pea are a legume in the family Fabaceae.
21:16So they have a hard seed coat and that needs to be softened before they can germinate.
21:21So it acts as a form of dormancy that means that they can last a long time out in the wild until the right conditions come along.
21:29And the process of scarification, which is softening the seed coat, what would you normally do?
21:34Well, there's different ways. You can use a scalpel or a sharp knife to take a little bit of the seed coat off.
21:39You could use a bit of sandpaper, a bit of rubbing, or at the moment we're using hydrogen peroxide.
21:44Why hydrogen peroxide?
21:46I use it as a soak prior to sowing.
21:49Hydrogen peroxide can actually surface scarify because it oxidises the seed coat.
21:55Not removing but softening to allow water to permeate.
21:59It can also act as a bit of a surface sterilant to kill any organisms that might be on the surface of the seed.
22:06And to make the solution, Jonathan is using 30 millilitres of hydrogen peroxide diluted with about 160 millilitres of water.
22:15Next, adding a couple of drops of detergent.
22:19This helps break down the surface barrier on the seed and ensures the seed gets fully wet and in full contact with the hydrogen peroxide.
22:27Put the lid on and give them a good shake.
22:33You can see that they start off, they're all sinking, which is a good sign that that's your normal assessment of a seed.
22:40I can actually watch its effect on the seed and whether the seed float.
22:44And you can see the air bubbles coming out of them and whether they swell.
22:48It's actually fun to watch. It's quite therapeutic.
22:52Whilst Jonathan is still experimenting with this method,
22:55he's found about half an hour to three quarters of an hour is the sweet spot.
23:00If left to soak too long or the solution is too strong, that can kill the seed.
23:05They segregate into floaters and sinkers.
23:08And so the floaters that lift at this point will germinate about 80%.
23:13And the sinkers will only germinate about 20%.
23:16They may germinate down the track, but I'm always in a hurry.
23:20There's no time to wait.
23:24There's no time to wait in a commercial operation.
23:28The seeds are transferred to a fine mesh bag and the solution is disposed of responsibly.
23:34Then it's time to rinse the seeds a couple of times in water.
23:39The seed are getting softer, so you've got to be a little bit careful.
23:43And the frothing is largely just the detergent.
23:49You can see there the difference between the ones that are swollen and haven't taken on any water.
23:57Here you can see the ones that are clearly obviously expanding and starting to hydrate in preparation for germination.
24:05The seed raising mix that Jonathan uses is lightly sieved one part native potting mix to four parts fine perlite.
24:11Just placing on the surface you can see where you've been.
24:15Sometimes it's easier with a paint brush to pick them up, then less likely to damage them.
24:20Then you've got to be careful with the forceps so you don't...
24:23Squeeze them too hard.
24:24Squeeze them, yep.
24:26Then lightly cover the mix and water them in.
24:31The seeds stay in the tray for a week or so and are kept moist in a protected spot.
24:38Once they germinate, they're potted on into tube stock.
24:42And so I'm just using this little stick as a dibbling stick to try and carefully extract this
24:52and put it in the hole with as little root disturbance as possible.
24:57And yeah, so that's how we do it.
25:00You can just see that the root's there.
25:02Yeah, they're quite long already.
25:04Yeah, they've already quite developed.
25:05So how long do they stay in these pots for?
25:08Well, they stay in here for about six to ten weeks depending on how fast they're growing.
25:13And so, for example, this one's been in here eight weeks.
25:16And you can see the root development.
25:19Wow, it's really holding the potting mix together.
25:21Yeah.
25:22Once the roots are strong enough, we'll pot them straight up into a ten litre pot,
25:26which is nice and deep at about 30 centimetres.
25:28Yeah.
25:29And they'll stay in that until they finish their life.
25:34And another tip, because they're prone to some root diseases, good hygiene is a must.
25:39Use a clean water supply, potting mix and pots at every stage, from babies to beautiful blooms.
25:46Once they're in their pots, do you then apply a stone-based mulch on top?
25:51Yeah.
25:52We're looking for something to try and keep the leaves dry and the surface of the pot dry.
25:56In this case, we're using a leka ball, which is an expanded clay ball.
26:00It's very light, very easy to handle, and it helps keep the leaves dry.
26:05So when we're watering, we're actually using a dripper like this, which puts it down into the soil.
26:13It's also feeding the plant, because we're running liquid feed through there as well,
26:17because they're quite hungry and thirsty.
26:19Right.
26:20And I mean, they require a bit to keep them going.
26:24Yeah.
26:25Are you up for the challenge?
26:27Are you willing to give it a crack?
26:29I think so.
26:30Yeah.
26:31I've grown a lot of plants, but nothing like this quirky character.
26:40And I've come prepared.
26:42I've brought with me a free-draining mix, basket and seeds, and I'm picking Jonathan's expert brain.
26:48So this is my homemade potting mix.
26:51It's made up of two parts potting mix to one part coarse sand and one part scoria.
26:56And I know yours is a seed-raising mix, because then you plan to transplant them.
27:00But I want to grow it in this hanging basket.
27:02Well, this could be better than our normal mix that we grow in,
27:05because we just try and do everything a standard way with the same mix to keep things simple.
27:10Yeah.
27:11So yeah, I think it should be good.
27:13There you go.
27:14Have the stool.
27:15Get comfy.
27:16Yeah, get comfy and it's all yours.
27:19So how many do you think I should put in here?
27:21Well, you don't know how many are going to germinate, but if you use the swollen ones,
27:25maybe if you put about five in there, then prick out to two or three of the best when they grow to see how they go.
27:38And then I'll just lightly cover.
27:40Yeah, just sprinkle a little bit of soil over the top.
27:42Can't even see where they put them.
27:43Yeah.
27:44They blend in so well.
27:46So now what next best thing I can do for my seeds?
27:49Well, the seeds have got to stay moist.
27:52So a nice protected spot that's reasonably warm.
27:55And then when they start to emerge, maybe dappled light would be good to get them going.
28:00And once they come up a bit, you might put a gravel mulch under the leaves to stop the leaves getting too wet.
28:06When you water them and reflex a little bit of heat up into the plant.
28:10Yeah.
28:11Maybe under cover to keep them out of direct rain.
28:15What about my hanging basket?
28:16Is this the good size to establish them in or to grow?
28:20Depth is your friend.
28:21So the deeper the pot, the better, because it keeps it drier on the surface.
28:26That depth isn't too bad.
28:27And there's plenty of room for the roots to expand.
28:30Yeah.
28:31Perfect.
28:32Well, good luck.
28:36Well, I've got my green thumbs crossed.
28:38Hopefully I'll be harvesting a bunch of desert pea blooms sometime soon.
28:46Still to come on Gardening Australia, Millie turns on the waterworks.
28:53We meet a sculptor recasting the natural world.
28:56And we've got all your jobs for the weekend.
29:12When you think of public spaces, cemeteries don't automatically come to mind.
29:17However, when the Melbourne General Cemetery opened back in the 1850s,
29:22it was designed as a large public park,
29:25and visitors would come to explore the trees, the winding paths,
29:29and the grassy areas.
29:31Fast forward to around 170 years later,
29:34and the 43-hectare site is jam-packed with around 300,000 recorded burials,
29:41multiple mausoleums, a prime minister's memorial garden,
29:46and even a grotto in honour of Elvis.
29:54This space is almost at the end of its working life as a cemetery.
29:57There's only a handful of graves left in this space,
29:59and there's a waiting list for those.
30:01But we've got an obligation to maintain this site into perpetuity.
30:05Helen Tewton is the Horticulture Assets Manager
30:08at Southern Melbourne Cemeteries Trust,
30:11which oversees several cemeteries in Melbourne,
30:14including this one, the Melbourne General Cemetery.
30:18She also used to be a researcher on Gardening Australia,
30:22but left to take up this new challenge,
30:25creating a beautiful, biodiverse landscape in an historical site.
30:31You have to be respectful of what has been here in the past.
30:35How do you go about that?
30:36We looked at old flora studies that have been done on this site,
30:40but we also looked at what the landscape would have been
30:43before this site was a cemetery,
30:45and we know it was, say, grassy woodland.
30:48We looked at what plants are appropriate for this site,
30:51regenerating the grassland environment
30:53that would have been here previously.
31:01So how did the project get started?
31:03What happened here, first of all?
31:05The way this site was being managed
31:07was unsustainable in the long term,
31:09so we were using a lot of herbicide,
31:11a lot of resources,
31:13to just keep the weeds down,
31:15and there's no environmental benefit in any of that.
31:18So for us,
31:19we wanted to look at a way that we could reduce
31:22or get rid of our herbicide management,
31:24but also turn these really barren areas of the site
31:28that were prone to run off,
31:30that were really unappealing,
31:32very, very hot,
31:33into something more meaningful.
31:35And that was how we came up with Project Cultivate.
31:38This is pretty rubbishy soil,
31:40so how did you get started?
31:41Yes.
31:42We didn't really have the ability to do soil improvement.
31:44No.
31:45We didn't want to import soil
31:46because of the size and the scale of the area
31:48that we're working through.
31:49The easiest thing for us to do was install mulch.
31:53All of the mulch was spread by hand
31:55because of the headstones,
31:56because of the possibility of damage.
31:57Wow.
31:58All up, by the time this project finished,
31:59we would have put in 5,600 cubic metres of mulch.
32:04We saw within a month or two of installing that mulch,
32:15how quickly the soil had improved.
32:17It had worms, the colour had changed,
32:19and the change in that soil was actually quite dramatic.
32:22Cemetery itself is 101 acres,
32:24and the area that we've worked through with this project so far
32:28is around 30.
32:29All up, it'll be about 56 acres when we're done.
32:32So the only areas we've planted on here are unmarked graves.
32:36We don't want to plant on people's monuments
32:38unless they specifically ask us to,
32:40and we have had some specifically ask us to
32:42because they just love what we're doing.
32:44Oh, I think it's fantastic.
32:45Yes.
32:46That's really good.
32:47Yes.
32:52It's lovely when these grasses are just waving in the breeze.
32:55Beautiful, isn't it?
32:56It just brings movement to something that's so static.
32:59Yes.
33:00And, you know, some of the grasses that we've got out here,
33:02like our kangaroo grass,
33:04it's really important to the space.
33:05They're quite beautiful colour-wise,
33:07and they'll drop their seed,
33:08and we're starting to see the little babies...
33:11Coming up.
33:12...come up, that sort of second generation already.
33:13Oh, that's...
33:14But the kangaroo grass would have dominated this environment
33:17before it was a cemetery anyway.
33:19And what's this one?
33:20That's one of our tussock grasses.
33:21So it's one of our poa species.
33:22Yep.
33:23We have two poa species out here
33:24because it's been proven to be really an important plant
33:28for a lot of beneficial insects and native insects.
33:35Isn't this a lovely little area?
33:36Beautiful, isn't it?
33:37Yeah.
33:38They are really sensational.
33:39Oh, they're beautiful, aren't they?
33:40Their golden billy buttons are just...
33:43They're one of the real success stories
33:45in terms of, you know, some of our understory planting.
33:48So while the grass is really dominant here,
33:51we have to introduce that sort of diversity.
33:53Look, the bees love it and the pollinators
33:55and the hoverflies just come in and love it,
33:57but also the people come in and love it.
33:59You know, we planted all the way along the edge of the pathway here.
34:02And, you know, I think the pops of colour that we get from this yellow,
34:05they really nicely accent some of the other great pieces of colour
34:08that we've got in here.
34:10People underestimate grasslands
34:11and I think they're traditionally sort of undervalued.
34:14And, you know, once upon a time grasslands in Victoria
34:17ran all the way from sort of the mouth of the Yarra River
34:20just about all the way down to the border with South Australia.
34:24And there's now less than 3% of those environments left.
34:27So for us, being able to recreate a threatened environment like that,
34:31but also teach people about the value of these space
34:34so that they just don't walk past and say,
34:36oh, it's a bit weedy or why don't you cut the grass.
34:39Why don't you cut the grass?
34:40Being able to invite them in and have a look and say,
34:42hey, but look at the wildflowers,
34:43look at the insects that are using this space,
34:45look at the hoverflies,
34:46look at the birds that are flitting in and out.
34:49This is a very different little area.
35:06It's one of the older Church of England areas here
35:08and was planted less than 12 months ago.
35:11And the way it's established has been quite mind-blowing under the cypress,
35:16but also there's no irrigation.
35:18We haven't watered anything in here.
35:20And you get these beautiful plume grasses and the wallaby grasses and the diapers
35:26and these gorgeous Christocephalums with absolutely no irrigation.
35:29No water though, that's just extraordinary.
35:31Isn't that amazing?
35:32We didn't expect this area to do as well as it has
35:34because it is a little bit challenging, but it's absolutely thriving.
35:37It's now one of my favourite spots in the whole cemetery.
35:40I just love it in here.
35:42I think this area really talks about Project Cultivate
35:47and what we're trying to do here.
35:48We're not taking away from the cemetery, we're adding to it
35:51this sort of beautiful mix of the old and the traditional
35:54or cemetery traditional with the cypress
35:56and the new with the grasslands underneath.
35:58How many Indigenous plants would you have struck into the ground?
36:08So far, it's a quarter of a million.
36:11So it's 250,000 so far and that's across the area of the site.
36:15When this project's done, by the end of 2025,
36:18it'll be half a million.
36:19Half a million?
36:20Half a million.
36:21Half a million, yeah.
36:22So this area alone, which is actually a bit bigger than it looks,
36:25took 80,000 plants.
36:27Yeah.
36:28It's a lot of plants but we wanted to make it diverse
36:31but also to suppress those weeds.
36:39You know, we're demystifying cemeteries and saying,
36:41no, hey, we want you to come in and have a look.
36:43It feels like the sort of project that you maybe only get a chance
36:46to do once in a lifetime,
36:49but the people in 50 to 100 years, just like these cypress,
36:52will come in and say, hey, that was a really good idea.
36:54That was great.
36:55And, you know, for me, this area sort of brings all of that together
36:58and it just talks about the project.
37:00I love hand watering.
37:12It gives me a great opportunity to observe what's really happening
37:16in the garden every single day.
37:18But the truth is I'm getting busier and it is getting hotter and drier.
37:22And so today I want to put in a drip system
37:24to help me water my garden more efficiently and more effectively.
37:28Now, a lot of people are a bit intimidated by irrigation,
37:35but it can be quite simple.
37:37The first thing you need to know is how much water you have to work with.
37:44Time how long it takes to fill a bucket.
37:47This is a 10-litre bucket and it took about 15 seconds to fill.
37:51Now, in a 60-second minute, you get four lots of 15.
37:55So that means I get four buckets per minute of water, 40 litres.
38:00Now, in an hour, there are 60 minutes.
38:02So 40 times 60 gives me my total amount of water that I have to use.
38:08Just like everything else in the garden,
38:13it'll always be most effective when you've got a plan.
38:16So once you've got your flow rate,
38:17you can look at the areas that you want to water
38:20and ensure you've got enough supply from that water source
38:23to cover what you need.
38:27I've drawn a mud map of the seven beds that I want the system to water.
38:31Each is about five metres long by about a metre wide.
38:35Now, with this information plus your flow rate,
38:37you can go and get some help from an expert to make a plan.
38:41If you want some more information, you can hit up our website.
38:48You don't need many extra tools to do a job like this.
38:51In fact, my secateurs do most of them,
38:53but a trenching shovel will help so much.
38:57And a thermos is a great little bit of kit.
39:04Now, you can see we've got this great trench here in winter.
39:06It actually acts like a really effective drain for too much rain.
39:10But in summer and those warmer months,
39:12it gives an opportunity to use it for things like this.
39:16So I've run a feeder pipe from the water source
39:19all the way along the edge of each of the gardens.
39:22And it's a large pipe.
39:24It's 19 millimetres,
39:25which means we're going to maintain as much water flow as we can
39:28all the way down the slope.
39:30While the garden is essentially one large area,
39:33it is on a gentle slope.
39:35So I've decided to divide it into two separate watering areas.
39:39The top of the slope dries out much more quickly.
39:42So I'm going to put that on a separate line to these lower beds,
39:45which hold the moisture for much longer.
39:48I'm going to water them as a group,
39:49but at times we're going to have different needs in individual beds.
39:53Like this bed, when you sow out some seeds for those first few weeks,
39:57while they germinate and get established,
39:59it's difficult for them to actually reach the water from a dripper.
40:02So top watering is going to be much more effective.
40:06So each of the beds, of course, has its own feed line.
40:09And this is where the drip irrigation will join.
40:11I'm going to attach it to this feeder pipe.
40:14And of course, I've put a tap on every single bed.
40:17So if I need to, I can switch it off.
40:19And the next step is to attach the manifold to that feeder pipe.
40:23So I'm just going to line it up about where it's going to sit in the bed
40:27and then cut that pipe.
40:29Next thing I'm going to fit the T,
40:32which goes from that 19mm feeder pipe down to the smaller size for the drip.
40:37Now I've got to attach the manifold that's going to feed my drip to that T.
40:41Now this is where a little bit of hot water can go a long way.
40:45If you're doing lots of joins,
40:46dipping that pipe in will soften it up and make it much easier to join.
41:02Now I've just got to lay that pipe out in the bed.
41:11So you can see that I'm using a pipe that actually has inbuilt drippers.
41:17They're pressure regulated,
41:18which means that they'll let the same amount of water,
41:20two litres from each of those drippers out.
41:23And I've spaced the pipe a little bit closer than recommended
41:27because I want to get a really even wet across the bed.
41:30It'll mean I run it for a shorter period,
41:32but I'll get great delivery of water for every crop that I grow.
41:37Now for connecting your water source, your tap or your tank,
41:41to your irrigation system.
41:43Now I'm going to keep it really simple,
41:45but you can get far more complicated and far more automated than this.
41:49This is just the two feeder pipes that are coming out of the ground here.
41:53They run across the path and down to the garden.
41:55And I've installed a filter in each to stop any unnecessary stuff
41:58ending up in my drip system.
42:00And also I've put a pressure reducing valve at the top.
42:03That'll mean if that water pressure does fluctuate, go much higher,
42:07it won't overload that system.
42:09I'm also going to connect up a simple two outlet tap timer.
42:13And that means I'll be able to set each of those areas to water on different days
42:17for different lengths of time as they need it.
42:22The first time you fire up the system, leave everything open and let the water flow
42:26because it'll flush out any dirt or debris that's gotten in there.
42:30And I like to leave the ends open.
42:32Some people join it as a box, but I leave each and every one open.
42:37And instead of putting a cap on it, I just use a simple technique
42:40that means I can open it any time I want.
42:43I just clamp it together.
42:45Just kick the hose.
42:46We all know what blockage that can cause.
42:49So that means that any time that I need to flush this line,
42:52if I accidentally put a hole in it and have to repair it,
42:55I can just take the end off and flush it clean.
43:03A little bit of mulch, of course.
43:05It's got to be how you finish every Gardening Australia story,
43:08but it's also going to help to keep that valuable moisture in the soil.
43:12And I won't lie to you, I find irrigation a little bit annoying
43:15and I have really resisted doing this job,
43:19but I'm sure it's going to pay dividends watering at the roots.
43:22It keeps water off the foliage, it prevents disease,
43:25and it's a really efficient way to do it.
43:28It's also going to give me a little bit of freedom
43:30to go away and leave my lettuce for the weekend if I so desire.
43:34So this bit of work, I think,
43:36is going to pay huge dividends for our little garden.
43:40I love it when art can make you look at the world a little differently.
43:50And when that art is looking at plants, ha, even better.
43:55Our next story is with a sculptor who's breaking the mould,
44:00combining plants with art.
44:03One of the things that's always fascinated me since I was a little boy
44:25was how things fit together and the mechanics of things
44:28and the way we interact with the stuff around us.
44:31My name's Jason Waterhouse.
44:36I'm a sculptor, fabricator, bit of a gallerist as well.
44:40And I'm out here today at a factory in Sunshine
44:46in the western suburbs of Melbourne.
44:48We do all sorts of sculpture fabrication,
44:55so everything from steel fabrication right through to bronze casting
44:59and all sorts of approaches to making artworks.
45:07About ten years ago, I made my first plant work,
45:10and I've been slowly making more and more plant-based works ever since.
45:15There's an overarching theme in my work where things are bending
45:20or mutating or shifting in these kind of impossible ways.
45:24I have this existing object that people can relate to.
45:32So you create a connection with the viewer,
45:35but then I kind of manipulate them and change them in a way
45:39that it becomes this possible thing that's completely impossible.
45:44And I love to think that that nature will, you know, conquer.
45:50In recent times, the cotyledon's been popping up lots in my artwork.
45:54I think it's almost a convenience thing.
45:56It's sort of like my gateway to work,
45:58and there's all these planted out.
46:00And they cast beautifully as well.
46:02What I'm doing is direct investing a cotyledon for bronze casting.
46:07So here we use a process called lost wax,
46:11which is where you create an object out of wax,
46:14or in this case, a combustible material.
46:17We put a ceramic mould around it, which we can then pop in the kiln.
46:22Through the firing, it burns the object out,
46:25creating this void, if you like.
46:27So there's this magical moment where the sculpture is space and time,
46:31you know, it's just air.
46:34And then we take that air and we fill it full of bronze,
46:37molten bronze, which is at about 1,200 degrees.
46:42From that point, it's a waste mould,
46:44so we water-blast off the ceramic from the bronze,
46:47revealing the piece.
46:49Hopefully it's a perfect cast.
46:51And from there we need to then cut all those pipes and airs off the work
46:55so it goes back to the original object,
46:58in this case, the succulent.
47:00And here it is in its final post-cast finish.
47:04So we've cleaned all the surfaces on it.
47:07And then I'll be painting the succulent back to that sort of powdery white blue
47:13that they are naturally.
47:15We're really passionate about eco-ideas and green spaces.
47:21We have a huge solar array on the roof.
47:24We collect all our water.
47:26We have a reed bed which recycles our grey water as well.
47:29And these were the live-to-air satellite dishes from the ABC that we've used for planters.
47:38And then we've built this beautiful green space down the northern side of the factory,
47:43which we grow our veggies in through summer and winter.
47:46We also have an orchard and even a beehive.
47:48It's become this beautiful haven for birds.
47:50It's become a haven for us as well at lunchtime.
47:52And it creates this lovely shield from the greater wasteland that is the urban environment here.
48:03As well as my own art, I am in this very privileged position where I get to make artworks
48:10on behalf of artists who don't necessarily have the scope to do it in their own studio.
48:15So that tends to be large-scale works like public artworks or museum works.
48:20We recently were fortunate enough to create the new Indigenous smoking ceremony dish
48:26for City Square in Melbourne, yet to be revealed.
48:30The project was initiated with Green Shoot and the concept was dictated by Aunty Joy Murphy-Wandon.
48:38Aunty Joy was very passionate about speaking to the Manigums.
48:42And so Aunty Joy wanted me to sculpt Manigum leaves and flowers,
48:46but at all the different stage of flowering.
48:49And then the bottom plane of the work swings out and then reveals a second sculpt,
48:55which is a sort of more graphic interpretation of the Manigum flower.
49:01And then the person who is leading the ceremony can then burn the leaves
49:06and go through the Welcome to Country or whatever the event may be.
49:16This piece here is for the new Anzac Station.
49:20Maynard did the design and then I hand sculpted a series of 11 poppies in wax.
49:26Like all things that we do here, they're always a first-time thing.
49:32So when I was approached to do poppies, I quickly visited a friend's garden and had a good look at those.
49:38And what I learnt was that they tend to have four petals on the type of poppies that relate to the shrine.
49:45We then put them through the Lost Wax casting process and here they are straight out of the cast.
49:53So these haven't been retouched or anything yet except for one of them.
49:56But I get the fun bit of putting all the information in and creating the textures
50:01to try to create a really beautiful object that's going to be a new gateway to the shrine.
50:07I'm really interested in this idea of the human sort of element in the natural world
50:16and that sort of push-pull between the built environment and the natural environment as well.
50:25I spend a lot of time in a factory in Sunshine and I really, I'm yearning a little bit to be in my home.
50:32Friday's a nice day because I get to return home to Glen Lyon and, you know, coming down the valley,
50:39you know, into the property and the air's clear and, you know, I get to hear the river
50:43and if it's the right end of the season and it's just, it's just nice to be home.
50:53I live on a beautiful bush property with my partner Magalie.
50:57We've been there for 19 years and raised our three children there.
51:02What is the other stuff that's in the tree you see?
51:05What is that? It's a type of mistletoe.
51:07Yeah. It's actually native.
51:08Oh, is it native?
51:09Yeah, even though it's a lolly gobble.
51:10I don't know its real name, but Dad's always called it lolly gobble.
51:13That would be right.
51:15My father bought this property in 1984 when I was about eight years old.
51:20We found this place with the incredible river, although it was completely overgrown with noxious weeds.
51:25This area where I'm sitting was an impenetrable paddock of gorse.
51:29You couldn't get to the river here.
51:31But over many decades, we've slowly cleaned the place up and revegetated huge areas
51:37and brought in native grasses again.
51:39And it's been one hell of a journey.
51:45This big old managum here behind me is one of my favourites on the property.
51:48It's been here since I was a boy.
51:50And all the little trees around it, the now big trees, I've watched grow from seedlings.
51:56It was this tree that supplied the branch for the work slump.
51:59You can see the broken off in the fork there.
52:02A mulch truck came through and knocked it down.
52:05I'm like, there it is.
52:06There's my branch for this artwork.
52:10And then what I had to do was collage from different branches and join each piece.
52:15So then they created the form and then I recarved sections and repainted sections
52:20and presented the actual managum branch, you know, sitting against a wall
52:25and in a state of kind of exhaustion.
52:28When you look at the work I've produced, it seems quite abstract,
52:32but it's strangely autobiographical because each work maps where I'm at at the time.
52:38So slump is very much about me being pretty exhausted.
52:44Like, I've been working incredibly hard for quite some time
52:48and the work I really wanted to speak to a certain tiredness
52:52but hold a beauty within that.
52:58I feel so incredibly lucky to have somewhere where I feel such deep roots
53:02and connection to the place I live.
53:04Like, it really is my home and I feel really privileged to be there
53:07and I think the managums coming up in my work are a bit of a celebration of that.
53:12This place for me is everything.
53:15It's where I belong and I thank every day for it.
53:29How's your gardening to-do list looking?
53:32A little light on?
53:34Well, I've got just the thing.
53:36Your job's for the weekend.
53:38I've got to go.
53:43In cool temperate gardens, group potted plants together over summer.
53:48Clustered containers are less exposed to the elements
53:51and don't dry out as quickly.
53:53And it's less work when you water.
53:56If you've got some space in the sun, get another round of capsicums in.
54:00Varieties like Padron, Mini Sweet and Antohe Romanian produce smashing small fruits
54:07that crop and ripen quickly.
54:09Got a tricky, shady spot where nothing seems to grow?
54:13Try a tough-as-boots silver spur flower, Plectranthus argentatus.
54:19The silvery foliage of this sprawling native shrub brightens a darker area
54:24and they do particularly well under eucalypts.
54:28Warm-temperate gardeners ramp up your rockery with a grouping of grass-trigger plants,
54:34Stelidium graminifolium.
54:36Blooming now, the showy pink flowers of these tough, tufting natives
54:41pollinate by an amazing explosive action.
54:46Plants with grey foliage are hardy and provide perfect colour and contrast,
54:51so it's time to go grey in the garden.
54:54Some silver stunners include saltbushes, Senecio, Flomus and Stachys, the lamb's ears.
55:02Up your indoor plant game with a native ginger, Alpinia cerulea.
55:07Fantastic in low light, the purple-tinged foliage pops
55:11while the edible small white flowers and rhizome have a mild ginger taste.
55:18In subtropical gardens, give tired-looking tomatoes a tidy-up.
55:23Removing shaded leaves and foliage from the centre of the plants increases airflow,
55:29keeping damaging diseases at bay and your toms ticking.
55:34Have a good look at citrus camellias and gardenias for signs of magnesium deficiency.
55:40Yellow older leaves with a deep green V at the base.
55:44If the signs are there, treat plants with a foliar spray of magnesium chelates.
55:50Summer stressed cycads are susceptible to scale infestations,
55:55so water them deeply each fortnight, give them a feed of organic fertiliser,
56:00and treat any sign of scale with white oil.
56:04Tropical gardeners give your zucchini and pumpkins a hand with pollination,
56:08gently moving pollen from male to female flowers.
56:12Keep those salads spinning by succession planting quick-growing summer greens.
56:17Mustard, sorrel, tatsoi and silverbeet can be sown at three weekly intervals for continuous cropping.
56:25Look out for sap-sucking spider mites on indoor plants, identifiable by their fine webs.
56:33They hide on the underside of leaves and hate getting wet,
56:37so give them a good blast with the hose.
56:40In arid gardens, basil is the best.
56:43Versatile, vigorous, tough and tasty.
56:46Try Thai, Genovese or cinnamon basil for a world of wonderful flavours.
56:52Mouth-watering Mediterranean's like oregano, marjoram, thyme and sage
56:58are wonderful water-wise herbs and are perfect for pots.
57:03Next time you're spreading some mulch around the garden,
57:06remember to spread some around the tops of your pots and containers.
57:10This slows water loss, suppresses weeds and helps plants manage the heat.
57:18Let us know what you get up to on our GA social pages.
57:27Well, we're wrapping things up for another week.
57:30We've got plenty lined up for next time.
57:32Here's what's in store.
57:34Perennials are all the rage at the moment, but not all are suited to our climate.
57:41I'll show you some that have a better chance of survival
57:44in our increasingly hot, dry environments.
57:48The warm weather is upon us, so it's summer crop time at my place.
57:53I'm exploring a farm growing one of the world's most celebrated
57:57and cultivated flowers, the peony.
58:04to find out for thousands of people on the top ofày.
58:11By the way
58:18you're putting the root and the same show,
58:21you might want to be irritated.
58:23We have a great day forいきpino.
58:26We've got lots more coles that have got 29 astray
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